Philippines, Macau agree to add airline seats

The governments of the Philippines and Macau have agreed to increase the entitlements from the current 4,500 seats a week to 7,020, a Civil Aviation Board (CAB) official said.

The decision will allow Philippine carriers to mount more flights from the Philippines to Macau.

“We signed today [Wednesday] a new agreement with Macau increasing the entitlements from the current 4,500 seats a week to 7,020 a week,” CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said in a text message.

He added that, “Current operators are Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia Zest. It is envisioned that the current infra projects in Macau that would connect Macau by land to Hong Kong and other nearby Chinese cities would increase the catchment area of Macau and therefore expand market opportunities in Macau.”

The new infra projects in Macau will also increase opportunities for Filipino workers.

According to the most recent statistics of the Philippine Employment Overseas Administration (POEA), there are about 6,729 Filipinos working in Macau.

The agreement this week expands on a successful air travel negotiation the two governments conducted in June of last year.